In a DMC, information is encoded very compactly in a square or rectangular area as a pattern of light (e.g., white) and dark (e.g., black) cells, each cell being formed by a single pixel or by a pixel matrix.
In some marking methods, a DMC is applied onto a workpiece by a laser processing unit, which directs the laser beam onto the workpiece, scanning neighboring pixel rows of the DMC successively in opposite directions while marking the dark pixels on the lighter workpiece surface by temporarily switching on the laser beam. During the transition from one row to the immediately neighboring next pixel row, the laser processing unit needs to be braked almost until it is stationary for the reversal of its direction, and can then be accelerated back to the marking speed. These braking and accelerating processes, which are usually not jerk-free, at each row change cost time and lead overall to a lengthening of the marking time of the DMC.